Vison of Life...It speaks about my views towards what's happening around us, though many of the things represents Pune, a becoming Metro in Maharashtra,India yet most of us live in similar city life. In city day to day life all we face is problems around us; from traffic to water to slums to power supply & many more, but who has solutions? That's why the name
Vison of Life!
Sanjay Deshpande

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Delhi Breathless; Pune Be Careful!

“There's so much
pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place
to put it all”... Robert Orben.

Robert Orben is best known as an American professional comedy
writer, though he also worked as a speechwriter for Gerald R. Ford and as a
magician. But his above words one can’t take as comedy as even though it has
been spoken in light vain but a bitter fact! In the earthquake of
Demonetization one thing happened as the Delhi pollution issue took
back seat on media because in this country currency is dearer than
anything even lives of human beings! As just before announcement of
demonetization everyone was talking about Delhi's scene & how even to walk
on streets is becoming impossible over there & as usual the blame game was
at peak! Delhi State Govt blaming Central Govt & neighboring States for the
situation of air quality! Central Govt firing back that it’s local govt’s
jurisdiction & finally Supreme Court itself taking cognizance of
the situation & summoned both State as well Central Govt to do a fire
fighting job as its common man's life which is at stake! So what has suddenly happened
in Delhi, let’s have a look at it & then we can think of what’s our dear Pune’s
future on these lines.

In every atmosphere there is a scale on which quality of air is
measured & it’s obvious as it’s this air which we breathe & if the air
contains hazardous particles which are categorized as fine & very fine,
then needless to say outcome isn’t good for our health. And the very same
particles apart from pulmonary diseases can be very much harmful to our eyes as
well ears & skin too! So in Delhi’s air these particle have been found more,
much more than permissible in respect to human tolerance & that caused havoc
all around the city. The illness of all sorts increased to such a level that
entire city came to stand still; schools needed to declare holidays &
except essential services majority trade also got shut-off. Certainly not a
sign of pride for capitol of a country which is aiming to become a world power!
But then Delhi isn’t first such capitol
to suffer on account of air pollution, cities like London & Beijing is to
name a few which also has gone through same problem. The only difference is
those cities learnt their lessons & recovered with immediate as well long
term measures of curbing the pollution & emerged as clean cities whereas
Delhi has ignored this aspect over a period & even now doesn’t seems to
have any concrete plan to overcome pollution! Let’s see what has caused
this sudden rise of particle in air of Delhi; as per Delhi State Govt the
neighboring State i.e. Haryana, Punjab farmers burnt the dry leftover after
harvesting & the northern winds carried all that smoke in Delhi is one of
main reasons. I am no expert in Metrology or Weather science but this can’t be main
reason, as this must be every years routine with the farmers, so how can
suddenly this year it got so aggravated making entire Delhi polluted, is the
question I will ask. The main reason is millions of vehicles exhausts & bad
traffic management along with thousands of Industries throwing smoke in environment.
At the same time reduced tree cover, polluted water bodies including river Jamuna
& buildings all over, causing combine effect of pollution! One more aspect
is Delhi’s geography i.e. plain terrain causes smog/smoke gets accumulated over
the city for a longer time. In addition to all these, the infamous Delhi’s fog
in winters surrounds the bad air like blanket to entire city worsening the
situation! Delhi Govt is trying to fight this out will all efforts right from
odd even number plates vehicles to no vehicles on some road but problem lies
somewhere else!

Let’s leave Delhi
to better hands & see what our Smart Pune scene is as with nearly 9 million
vehicles on Delhi roads where-as Pune is already touching 4 million vehicles, so we are not far behind. On this background
will share an interesting incidence, just few days back was having meeting with
my environment activist friend Ranjit Gadgil who is keen of improving city
environment through his NGO, “Parisar” at my favorite place Vaishali over a cup
of tea. Parisar has been pivotal especially on road safety, traffic management
& improving public transport of the city & the members are continuously
keeping the civic administration on its toes regarding above aspects. They have
even filed cases with Green tribunal against projects like road through river
bed as well a road from bal-bharti hill, saying these roads will damage
bio-diversity of city! In both above case they have got stay on the said road
projects making PMC to take step back even when the work has been started! So
when I introduced Ranjit to my Vashali group members their first reaction was
Parisar & people like Ranjit are speed breakers to city’s development &
why are they not thinking about the common citizens who has to face traffic
jams every day? Rather it’s because of cases filed by Parisar traffic scene is
deteriorating in the city as PMC can’t develop new roads; also what’s harm in
building roads through river bed as where is river left in the city, so why not
use the river bed for roads easing out traffic? These are just few of the angry
questions thrown at Ranjit.

I don’t blame my friends & Ranjit has faced many such
questions but do mind, my friends represents common citizen of Pune & their
attitude shows future of Pune is as dark rather more than that of Delhi! Even
while the survey which has been conducted for Smart City contest most citizens
were concerned about traffic & undoubtedly that’s most dear to heart
subject of Pune. Reason is simple, this city lacks public transport & every
one living here right from MD of any IT Company to his school going kid depends
of private transport & result is every house with family of four has
at-least one four wheeler & two to three two wheelers! And outcome is Pune
with PCMC jointly has nearly 5 million private vehicles of which most are on
roads at peak hours of traffic & that makes Pune number one contestant for
pollution affected city after Delhi. All we think about how our traffic will be
better but there lays the crux as till we think about just vehicles & plan
the city around them we will be never able to make a pollution free city. The efforts should be targeted for reducing the private
vehicle as that’s the key to stream line the traffic as whatever fly-overs or
new roads we will make or widen the existing roads, that won’t curtail the new
vehicles entry in city or use of existing vehicles, this we must understand!Those people who think widening roads or using river road
will solve traffic problems are as equal ignorant like a smoker instead
quitting smoking, asking to enlarge his respiratory passage! Going ahead I will
put it in this way asking for making a road from river bed is like increasing
respirator passage by curtailing lungs size & yet continue smoking, such
fools we are! As rivers are our best hope for maintaining bio-diversity in the
heart of the city & we are reducing them for our vehicles instead using
them for plantation & water bodies! And it’s the biodiversity in form of
green cover which will protect us from exhausts of vehicles!

Need is strengthen the
public transport in such way that it will fulfill needs of every citizens
commuting in & around the city. But then this aspect nobody cares not even
citizens as here millions can come on road for caste & reservations but no
one protest even individually leave apart in numbers for better public
transport! All we discuss is about Metro which is just one part of public
transport! Though now it’s been a decade we are just debating upon Metro, even
about name of it can be ego issue here, such is our poor understanding
regarding the grave threat of pollution we face ahead! If we don’t want a
future like Delhi then it’s high time to work on both fronts to fight pollution
i.e. short term & long term solutions. Widening existing roads,
traffic management, more signals, building fly-overs are short term solutions.
At the same time more roads & more vehicles means more signals & more
traffic police, that too is equally required or else we all know what happens
at unmanned signals! Pollutions’ another reason is fire crackers that too the modern
one which goes high up in air & blows with bang, spreading hazardous
particles in surrounding. Putting restriction on burning fire crackers won’t
work, but ban sale itself of any fire crackers in the city as we already have
enough fronts creating pollution. In first place why we need fire crackers
& what we are going to celebrate by polluting the environment, ask this question
to every citizen.

Long term solution is get enough numbers of busses on roads
& make as many new routes we can. As less private vehicles means less
exhausts from fuel burning. Try to bring more & more vehicles under use of
green fuel like electric energy or CNG fuel. For that we will need to have
battery charging stations & enough CNG pumps all across the city. Most
important factor is increase green cover in the city as much we can. Conserve
green belts, water bodies & bio-diversity parks as these are our lungs
& last hope against polluted future. Think of moving every industry small
or large outside of city from right now! In the city planning itself we have
failed as the growth of the city is haphazard i.e. no clear division between
business district & residential areas. All we know is paint the map yellow i.e.
buildable & build any structure over there. I am not blaming
our city planners nor the builders, it’s just that we all are so short
sighted that un-till someone doesn’t
choke our throat we just doesn’t acknowledge that we need air to breathe! Such
is our attitude to city planning so at-least in long term lets wake up &
see that we plan a city where people don’t have to start their bike every now
& then for their daily needs as that’s one sure way of curtailing
pollution.And then when some
officer tries to reduce drive ways & increase walk ways /cycle ways then
all our party leaders come together along with so called aware citizens &
make him scrap his ideas! Again I can’t blame these people also as they are
more concerned about their vehicles & traffic, who cares for walkers or
cyclists here! I agree in one night we can’t wipe out all the vehicles &
ask people to start walking or cycling but some where the direction should be
towards that target which unfortunately is not happening! What we need is to
strike a balance between development & environment.

Lastly when I visited my family doctor Uday Gokhle for my
routine checkup, at reception desk of his clinic he has put up a chart of
comparison between Delhi pollution levels & Pune’s; you need not have to be
Nostradamus to read our future as one look at that chart & the patients in
his waiting room is enough as maximum of them are already suffering from air
pollution borne diseases! Wish all are aware
like Dr Gokhle as today its Delhi which has got choked, are we waiting for the
air around us gets so polluted that it will chock us permanently! I know we
Punekars consider our-self as wisest in the country, so let’s remind ourselves
that wisdom is in acting wisely & not in uttering mere words of wisdom
copied from Goggle!